SBIR Phase II: MEMS Resonant Nanobalance Dew Point Meters

SBIR 第二阶段：MEMS 谐振纳米天平露点计

• 批准号: 1330350
• 负责人: Paul Neilson
• 金额: $ 75万
• 依托单位: FemtoScale Inc.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-09-01 至 2016-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1330350&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; II; MEMS; Resonant

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project aims to develop a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS)-based moisture (dew point) measurement instrument. Trace moisture measurements are needed in a variety of industrial sectors including natural gas production and distribution, semiconductor manufacturing, pure gas supply, aerospace, and petrochemical processing. Commercially-available moisture sensors are either very expensive, or alternatively lack the required accuracy, long-term stability, and responsiveness for many existing applications. The innovative aspect of the proposed approach is the utilization of micro-electro-mechanical resonant balances coupled with a cooling element. The instrument will measure dew point using the highly accurate chilled surface technique to deposit a layer of moisture on the surface of the resonant balances, hence combining the accuracy of the chilled surface measurement technique the with small size, low power consumption and affordability enabled by MEMS. The MEMS resonant balances are capable of detecting as little as a few femto-grams of deposited moisture. Therefore, only a very small amount of gas needs to be chilled for a short period of time (i.e. low power/battery operation) to deposit sufficient water to indicate the dew point. The self-zeroing capability of the measurement technique eliminates the need for frequent maintenance and calibration.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project includes a significant leap forward in the moisture measurement technologies that have experienced no major development over the past several decades. The proposed new class of dew pointers offers higher accuracy, responsiveness, stability, and robustness currently unavailable at the same price range. An important immediate market with great national significance is the measurement of moisture in natural gas. In cold climates excess water in the gas pipeline can freeze the pipe shut, rendering the pipeline useless until the frozen point can be identified and cleared. Furthermore, due to the variability of the moisture content and the complete lack of suitable and affordable measurement equipment, wet gas is being used as the pricing standard in the natural gas industry, leading to pricing errors of up to 1.74%. The proposed battery- or solar-powered sensors will permit unattended operation and data transmission capability and will be installed at the natural gas wellheads as well as different points along the distribution network where these types of measurements are in high demand.

该小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目旨在开发基于微机电系统（MEMS）的水分（露点）测量仪器。 痕量水分测量在各种工业部门都有必要，包括天然气生产和分配、半导体制造、纯气体供应、航空航天和石化加工。 市售的湿度传感器要么非常昂贵，要么缺乏许多现有应用所需的精度、长期稳定性和响应性。 所提出的方法的创新方面是利用与冷却元件耦合的微机电谐振平衡。该仪器将使用高精度的冷却表面技术测量露点，在谐振天平的表面上存款一层水分，从而将冷却表面测量技术的精度与MEMS实现的小尺寸、低功耗和经济性相结合。 MEMS谐振天平能够检测到少至几毫微微克的沉积水分。 因此，只有非常少量的气体需要在短时间内被冷却（即，低功率/电池操作）以存款足够的水来指示露点。 该测量技术的自调零能力消除了频繁维护和校准的需要。该项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力包括水分测量技术的重大飞跃，在过去几十年中没有经历过重大发展。 建议的新类别的露点指针提供更高的准确性，响应能力，稳定性和鲁棒性目前无法在同一价格范围。 一个重要的直接市场，具有重大的国家意义是测量天然气中的水分。 在寒冷的气候中，气体管道中过量的水会冻结管道，使管道无法使用，直到可以识别和清除冻结点。 此外，由于含水量的可变性以及完全缺乏合适且负担得起的测量设备，湿气被用作天然气行业的定价标准，导致定价误差高达1.74%。 拟议的电池或太阳能传感器将允许无人值守操作和数据传输能力，并将安装在天然气井口以及沿着配电网络的不同点，这些类型的测量是在高需求。